The present invention relates to a headlamp assembly for motor vehicles, and more particularly to a vehicular headlamp assembly including an auxiliary lamp in which an auxiliary lamp, such as a clearance lamp, is mounted in a lamp chamber.
FIG. 10 is a horizontal sectional view showing a conventional headlamp assembly as disclosed, for example, in Published Unexamined Japanese Utility Model Application No. Hei. 3-77735. As shown therein, a normal driving beam lamp 3, a fog lamp 4, and a clearance lamp 5 are disposed within a lamp chamber defined by a lamp body 1 and a front lens 2. The normal beam lamp 3 is constructed with a bulb a.sub.1 and a parabolic reflector b.sub.1. The fog lamp 4 is constructed with a bulb a.sub.2 and a parabolic reflector b.sub.2. The clearance lamp 5 is constructed with a bulb a.sub.3 and a parabolic reflector b.sub.3. To obtain desired quantities of light from the lamps, certain minimum sizes of the reflectors b.sub.1, b.sub.2, and b.sub.3 of the lamps 3, 4 and 5 are required. This constitutes one of the factors hindering a reduction in the size of the headlamp assembly.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,727,458 proposes a headlamp assembly of this type utilizing a projection structure having a reduced size. In this approach, as shown in attached FIG. 11, light emitted from a bulb a4 is converged by a reflector c which is substantially parabolic in cross section. The light beams are then projected forwardly by a projection lens d. Reference numeral 6 designates a front cover, and reference numeral 7 indicates an inner cover with a mirrored surface, which is disposed around the projection lens d of the projection unit. The inner cover 7 keeps the interior of the lamp chamber from sight, and provides a brilliant appearance. A bulb a.sub.5 is used for a position lamp such as a parking light. The bulb a.sub.5 projects forwardly from the inner cover 7. The light emitted from the bulb a.sub.5 is reflected by a predetermined reflecting area 7a of the inner cover 7 and forwardly distributed.
In the structure shown in FIG. 10, the lamps 3, 4 and 5 of the reflection type having the parabolic reflectors are all disposed within the lamp chamber. Accordingly, there is a limit in reducing the size of the headlamp assembly. If the lamp of the projection type as shown in FIG. 11 is used, a limit in size reduction still exists because the clearance lamp 5 is large.
In the structure shown in FIG. 11, the bulb a.sub.5 is located in the upper portion of the lamp body, increasing the height of the lamp body. This hinders the size reduction of the headlamp assembly.